************************************************************************** ONMUAA NEWSLETTER Vol (1) No. (3) December 1996 ************************************************************************** ================================================================== Table of Contents 1. Holiday Greetings ONMUAA-PO 2. News Brief (1).26th Neuroscience Meeting Rende Gu (2) ONMUAA First Survey Benquan Shen (3) My visit to NMU Xin-Sheng Ding 3. Welcome to Ann Arbor Ning Jin 4. Career Development (1) How to write a good resume Youcheng Liu (2) NIH grant application Liangfeng Tao (3) Job opportunity Youcheng Liu 5. Some jokes for Holidays Liangfeng Tao & Youcheng Liu ================================================================== 1.Holiday Greetings from ONMUAA President Office Dear Alumni: This is the warmest greetings from ONMUAA President Office to you and your family! To wish you a joyous Christmas and happiness throughout the coming year. The President Office is also delighted to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your mountainous support, endless efforts, and royal spirits. Especially, we would like to thank those who continuously supported our newsletter and directory, To thank the Governing Board members and officers for their timely guidance and cooperation, to thank all our directors who made our association moving forward steadily, to thank ... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The President Office ONMUAA 2. News brief (1) 26th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience There is a news about 26th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience which was hold from Nov. 16-21 in Washington D.C. There were several ONMUAA alumni attending the meeting. Gu, Rende (MD 77) happened to meet Zhang, Ge (MD 77), Lu, Ying (MD 77), Li, Zhiwei (MD 77), Wang, Hong(MD 78), Fang, Fang (MD ?), Xiao, Peng(GD 85), Zhuang, Soyuan (Faculty), Mu, Jian (Faculty). According to Xiao, Peng, he met Fang, Xiemo (MD 78). Neuroscience Annual Meeting is a huge meeting. This year, there were 12,537 abstracts, 18 symposia, 24 history of neuroscience, 58 teaching of neurocsience abstracts in the meeting. It's said about 25,000 scientists attending the meeting. Besides the ONMUAA alumni mentioned above, there were still some ONMUAA alumni attended the meeting. Rende Gu (MD 77) ____________________________________________________________________ (2) First ONMUAA Survey Results ____________________________________________________________________ A couple of months ago, we launched a survey among our fellow members. We appreciate everyone who have contributed their time, comments, opinions and suggestions on how to run our Organization. Following is the results of this survey. 1. Total returns: 45 By Department: MD: 22 PH: 16 DS: 2 NS: 1 GS: 3 FA: 1 By Country: U.S.A.: 40 Canada: 1 Australia: 2 Japan: 2 New Zealand:1 2. About communication: E-mail: 45 Regular phone: 28 Fax: 20 Regular Mail: 25 WWW: 5 3. Research field: Our members are involved in the areas of physiology and orthodontics; Molecular epidemiology; Oncology; Molecular micro biology; Biostatistics and epidemiology; Pharmaceuticals; Molecular and cellular biology; Immunology; Pharmacolgy; Virology; Protein biochemistry; Neuroscience; Environmental and occupational health. 4. About Directory: Following numbers represnt the returns who wish to put these information in the Directory Name: 45; Sex: 10; Year of School: 45; Dept.: 45; Home phone: 45; Home address: 42; Work phone: 45; Work address: 41; Fax: 42; Web site: 3; Research field: 42. 5. About Organization work: Like to do? Yes: 15; Not sure: 18; No answer: 12 These who have answered "yes" specifically like to work on: Home page 5 Newsletter 6 Directory compiling 6 As Board members 4 Funding rasing 1 6. About donation to ONMUAA: 38 out of 45 returns would like to donate $5 to $ 100, most of them will donate $20. 7. About information exchange: Would like to see information about Job hunting 42 Immigration/visa 5 Making friends 40 Information about NMU 43 Living in oversea 38 Education opportunity 8 USMLE/ Medical residency 12 How to start business 5 Would like to contribute information about Job hunting 5 Immigration/visa 1 MAking friends 6 Information about NMU 10 Living in oversea 6 Education opportunity 1 USMLE/ Medical residency 1 How to start business 0 8. About donation/seminar/visiting to NMU: yes no not sure no opinion Journal Donation 5 3 3 34 Seminar 8 3 2 33 Visiting NMU 9 36 9. About service from NMU: Free and fast document service 28 Job information from NMU 13 10 About consulting to NMU yes 26 no 4 not sure 8 11 About old memorys of NMU The best thing about NMU: - nice classmates - first day in NMU - good education system - wonderful library service - friendship with classmates - nice anatomy labs and samples - nice teaching building - flowers in the campus The worst thing about NMU: - not strong enough - the last year in NMU - too beaurocratic - not open enough,slow development - far away cafeteria from classroom - no lawn, dusty everywhere - few campus activities - terrible cafeteria, long line for food - the rape case in campus - lack of diversed student life - too much Friday meeeting - too much grass uprooting - too many examinations - a physical fighting in the school 12. About this survey yes no opinion Like this survey? 35 10 Number of questions too many 1 too few 0 proper 34 no opinion 10 ___________________________________________________________________ (Contributed by Benquan Shen) (3) My visit to Nanjing Medical University Dear NMU fellow alumni, I came back from China last month after one month vacation in Nanjing. I visited our home college--NMU and did a genetic diagnosis test in neurology in our hospital--Jiangsu Province People's Hospital. I also gave a lecture in the Hospital. Probably most of you have learnt how great changes have taken place in our home town. I don't want to waste your time to describe every change in detail. The only thing I'd like to bring to you is the best wishes from the head of our college and hospital. Dr. WU Guan-lin, Vice President of NMU and President of the Hospital Dr. HUANG Jun, Vice President of the Hospital and Dean of the Medical College Dr. WU Guan-lin, Vice President of NMU and President of the Hospital Dr. HUANG Jun, Vice President of the Hospital and Dean of the Medical College Dr. WANG Lan-Hua, CPC Secretary of the Hospital all ask me to bring their greetings to all NMU alumni. They hope that we alumni are willing to visit and keep connection with our home college and hospital. Any contribution to the development and progress of NMU and the Hospital is cordially welcome. We alumni are highly encouraged to do the following things: To visit and give lectures; To provide information and suggestions; To do cooperative project; To go back and work there; ...and so on. I think everyone of us can do something for our NMU and hospital if he/she wants to. Thanks for your attention. Xin-Sheng DING, (MD, 77) 3. Welcome to Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is the seat of Washtenaw County in southeastern Michigan and is best known as the home of the University of Michigan. The city, located on the Huron River and founded in 1823, is named for the wives (both named Ann) of its two founders and for its natural groves, or arbors. It is about 30 miles from Detroit and three and a half drive away from Chicago and covers an area of slightly more than 23 square miles. Ann Arbor is an attractive town of more than 100,000 people. The appreciation of Ann Arbor's attractiveness does not stem from local loyalty alone: in a number of surveys conducted by magazines and outside firms during the past several years, Ann Arbor has consistently been named as one of the nation's 10 best places to live. Probably no city of its size elsewhere in the United States and, perhaps, the world, can offer the range of diversions available in Ann Arbor. Some of Ann Arbor's attractions are sponsored by the University of Michigan, such as the Botanical Gardens, the Arboretum, Medieval Festival and many cultural events. Others are unrelated to the University, like the Farmer's Market and the Ya'soo Greek Festival. Still others are joint ventures, such as the Summer Arts Festival. Ann Arbor is a regular stop on the touring route of topflight artists, musicians, theater companies and lecturers. Almost from its founding, Ann Arbor has been the home of the University of Michigan; it has evolved into an internationally known center of academic, research and cultural excellence. Welcome to Ann Arbor Contributed by Ning Jin ************************************************************************ 4. Career development (1) How to write a good resume Writing a good resume and a cover letter as well as doing a good performance in job interviews are really essential steps, among other job hunting skills, in finding a job, and are highly regarded in this country. Many a time when we receive a resume from a friend in China or elsewhere asking us to help with the job hunting, we might find the need to improve the resume. Indeed, even we are employed now, we need to keep updating our resumes. A resume should never be sent without a cover letter, which represents another important opportunity for you; it's like a personal introduction to the employer. A well written letter will win you important points toward getting your interview. The interview is the final step that must be taken in order to secure the position one is seeking. To help our alumni in this regard, I'd like to discuss with you some aspects of it. Certainly there are many books or articles you can read about it. In this issue of ONMUAA Newsletter, I only would focus on the resume writing. Hope it could arouse more of your attention to it. Youcheng Liu, PH78 _____________________________________________________________________________ Writing Effective Resumes and CVs WHAT IS A RESUME? A resume is a marketing tool. It is the sum and substance of your work history, professional experience and educational background, held together in a coherent way, that points to a particular career direction; A resume is a passport; it allows you to enter or re-enter the world of work; A resume should demonstrate credibility and attract interest. Your resume is like a personal advertisement, it should convince a potential employer that you are an outstanding candidate for the job and can contribute to the organization; The resume is probably the most important document you will write in your professional life. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? For you: 1) to obtain an interview 2) to provide visibility For employer: 1) to provide a screening device 2) to facilitate the hiring process and find a "fit" Be aware that the initial review of your resume will take 20 - 30 seconds! WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RESUME AND A CURRICULUM VITAE? A CV displays your academic credentials and accomplishments in greater detail for positions in academia, research and governmental agencies. It includes additional topics such as papers, publications, presentations, memberships, etc. WHAT SHOULD I DO TO PREPARE BEFORE WRITING? * Clarify your career goals * Define your portfolio of skills * Think about which work skills and experience you want to emphasize to a potential employer * Review job descriptions for positions that interest you and notice the words for skills required * Anticipate what the prospective employer will be looking for in your resume WHAT INFORMATION DO I NEED TO INCLUDE IN A RESUME? The main 2 parts of a resume is EDUCATION and PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE. 1. Personal Data The only required information is your name, address, and phone number. Be sure to provide both permanent and current address and phone number. You can add your email address. 2. Career Objective A brief and concise statement indicating your career goals is recommended if you have very specific career goals. Otherwise, include your career objective in your cover letter to a specific employer or for a specific job. 3. Summary of Skills/Professional Expertise A concise statement highlighting your strongest skills and areas of professional expertise can be an advantage to you, especially if you have a mix of experiences in career history. 4. Education Unless you are more than 5 years out of school, your education section should precede your experience section. List the names of the institution attended chronologically in REVERSE ORDER. Give the degree your received plus the major area of your study. Include special programs from your university, such as junior year abroad, a six month internship, etc. Indicate either the degree name (Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Arts) or the degree initials (Ph.D., B.A.). Indicate the specialization and major after the degree title. Include the thesis topic in italics if it relates to your professional goals. 5. Honors and Awards List any awards or distinctions you received such as dean's list, cum laude, or Phi Beta Kappa. Include a brief explanation for honors and awards that are not self explanatory, particularly for international students. Do not include the GPA (grade point average) unless requested by an employer. This section can be included in the education section or listed separately. 6. Professional Experience Work experience should be listed in reverse chronological order with your most recent experience listed first. Internships and volunteer experience can be considered in this section if they relate to your professional goals, or you can create a section called " Additional or Related Experience," or "Community Service". Your do not need to list every job experience your have ever had, but your should selectively highlight your most significant ones. When you describe your work experience, remember to summarize your accomplishments rather than listing job tasks. Try to organize the work accomplishments into clusters of related tasks. Use action verbs: 1) Management and Leadership Skills trained managed taught supervised recruited organized coordinated negotiated increased 2) Research and Analytical Skills analyzed developed evaluated investigated documented published 3) Problem Solving and Program Development Skills designed devised launched forecast implemented created Short-termed and similar positions can be simplified in presenting them together to avoid repeated same job description: CONSULTANT Summer 1993 Cooper & Lybrand, Inc. Boston, MA Summer 1982 Creative Medical Solutions Corporation New York, NY Summer 1981 American Red Cross Cincinnati, OH Worked on a variety of health-related projects, using skills in data collection and analysis, report writing, and questionnaire development. 7. Dates Make sure that dates are clearly delineated. You can choose to write dates during semesters such as Summer 19__, Fall__. Also if you worked for an organization for longer than 8 months, you can just write the year. 8. Additional or Related Work Experience You may want to include this section if the experience add to your range of qualifications and show evidence of skills valued by the organization. 9. Publications List those publications that relate directly to your career goal. Employers most interested will be teaching hospitals, research organizations, consulting and international organizations. If you have one or two, include them; otherwise, create a separate list and indicate the publications are available upon request. 10. Computer Skills Only include the special computer skills that are relevant to the position. 11. Languages If you are fluent or conversant in several languages, list the languages you speak and/or write as follows: "Fluent in French, proficient in Japanese, knowledgeable in Spanish." Think carefully about your level of proficiency. Do not overrate your skills as you may be asked to demonstrate your language ability during an interview. 12. Interests/Personal Add one or two lines about your outside interests, hobbies, or travels can add interesting information to the interview because this information can spark conversation. Try to choose interests that are unique. Remember to avoid any information about your marital status, children or age in this section. 13. Licensures and Certification If you have a license in a specific field like medicine, indicate it in this section. 14. Professional Affiliations List memberships in professional societies that are relevant to your career goals. 15. References You can write " References Available Upon Request" if you have space. Employers will ask directly for references, so be prepared to have a list on a separate sheet of paper with names, addresses, and phone and fax numbers. Give careful consideration to your choice of references as some are more appropriate to an employer than others. 16. Layout and Printing Keep in mind it should be written concisely, clearly, and free of error. Use boldface type, underlining, italics, and capital letters to to bring attention to important headings and information on your resume. However, be sure these features enhance rather than detract from information. Always proofread your final draft carefully many times to avoid typos or misspelled words. Ask a few friends to review the final draft. Use good bond paper in off-white, ivory, or light grey and have your resume laser printed. HOW TO CRITIQUE A RESUME? 1. Overall Appearance Do you want to read it? 2. Layout Does it look professional, neatly typed, good margins? Do key points stand out? 3. Length Could you tell the same story if it were shortened? 4. Relevance Is there any extraneous material? 5. Writing Style Do any phrases sound clumsy? 6. Action Orientation Do sentences begin with action verbs? 7. Accomplishments Are your problem solving skills emphasized? 8. Completeness Have you included the important information? 9. Specificity Have you avoided generalities and focused on specific information? 10. Bottom Line How well does the resume accomplish its purpose of getting the applicant an interview? ___________________________________________________ ****************************************************************************** (2) GOOD NEWS FOR NIH GRANT APPLICANTS I attended an NIAID/NIH Workshop on Grant Related Activities on Dec.3, during the 45th ASTMH Annual Meeting in Baltimore,Dec.1-5, 1996. The following is some good news for our alumni who are interested in applying for 1997's NIH grants/contracts. You may also find detailed news or information from: http://www.drg.nih.gov (NIH Div.of Research Grants(DRG) homepage) http://www.nih.gov/grants (click NIH gopher site) or http://www.niaid.nih.gov 1.Budget for all NIH research grants of 1997 has been increased by 6.9%, compared to this year, totalling $1.26b. For NIAID's field, the actual percentage is 7.6% up, with 8.8% for AIDS research and 6.4% for non-AIDS infectious diseases. The budget for 1998-99 is unknown. 2.RFA(Requests For Application) has worked since this year, in addition to regular PA(Program Announcements) mechanism. That can be a new opportunity for funding. RFA features a specific research research area defined by NIH-Institute, with one-time set aside money, limited number of awards and one-time application receipt date. The application will be reviewed by special study sections established within NIH-Institute(will save time, I believe), in stead of standing DRG study sections like regular PA. 3.Electronic application in some research areas, including most NIAID field, will be initiated Feb, 1997. Electronic processing for applications has already started. Contributed by NMU alumnus Liang-feng Tao ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (3) Job opportunity _____________________________________________________________________________ From: Henry WeiSubject: Job at Biogen A temporary full time job at BIOGEN, a biotechnology company, is available immediately. There is a chance to change to a permanent position. It requires a few years of experience in Molecular Biology. You will screen cDNA library, Do phage and plasmid DNA preparation and clone new genes. We offer very competitive salary. Please send your resume AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to Henry Wei, Biogen, 14 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142 _____________ _________________________________________________________________ 5. SOME JOKES RELATED TO COMPUTERS 1) Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press Return Key" because of the flood of calls asking where the "Any" key is 2) AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard to control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag the mouse was packaged in. 3) Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the system wouldn't read word processing files from his old diskettes. After trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it was found that the customer labeled the diskettes then rolled them into the typewriter to type the labels. 4) Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes. A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed copies of the floppies. 5) A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back in the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and was heard putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the room to close the door to his room. 6) Another Dell customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to fax anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor screen and hitting the "send" key. 7) Another Dell customer needed help setting up a new program, so a Dell tech suggested he go to the local Egghead. "Yeah, I got me a couple of friends," the customer replied. When told Egghead was a software store, the man said, "Oh, I thought you meant for me to find a couple of geeks." 8) Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and water and soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys and washing them individually. 9) A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged because his computer had told him he was "bad and an invalid". The tech explained that the computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses should not be taken personally. 10) An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support could not get her new Dell Computer to turn on. After ensuring the computer was plugged in, the technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power button. Her response, " I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens." The "foot pedal" turned out to be the computer's mouse. 11) Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand-new computer would not work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in, and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when she pressed the power switch, she asked "What power switch?" 12) My friend Steve works at a tech support place and the funniest computer idiot story that he ever told was that of some guy calling them up to thank the company for putting a coffer holder in his computer. Confused, Steve asked him what he was talking about and the customer replied that every time he sat down in front of his computer, he turned it on, booted it up, pressed a button, and out slid a little tray from the machine that was perfect to set his coffee down on. Needless to say, Steve put the man on hold and laughed for a few minutes with his buddies before explaining the concept of a CD-ROM drive. Another joke the joke stars here...... >It seems that this perfect man met this perfect woman and they had a perfect romance before their perfect wedding, followed by a perfect married life. >One December 24 they were driving down the road and they noticed a man stranded on the side of the road. But this was no ordinary man. It was Santa Claus. Being the perfect people that they were they offered Santa a ride because he was in a hurry to get his toys delivered and the children must be happy at Christmas. So the perfect man and perfect woman sped up to deliver Santa to his destination on time. But alas, the roads were slippery and the car got into an accident. The car began to slip and slide, left the road and did a crash and burn in a ditch. Sadly only one person came out alive.. Can you guess who it was ? >>* >>* >>* >>* >>* >>* >>It was the perfect woman. >>Why ? >>Because ... >>Santa Claus and a Perfect Man are both myths. Julie Olivieri olivierj@bc.edu Boston College Technology Planning & Integration